- Post author:dizzy
- Post published:17 January 2025
- Post category:Fascism/genocide/human rights violations/Israel/Palestine/Zionism
- Post comments:0 Comments
Ben-Gvir orders demolitions in Palestinian towns, villages within Israel
Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir has instructed Israeli forces to prioritise demolishing homes in Palestinian towns and villages within Israel, based on claims that they were built without permits.
According to Haaretz, Ben-Gvir lacks the legal authority to determine demolition policies, a responsibility held by Israeli Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara in coordination with enforcement agencies.
Nevertheless, during private meetings with Israeli forces, he pushed for the destruction of Palestinian family buildings.
Sources reveal that Ben-Gvir justified these orders as a way to “demonstrate governance and increase deterrence,” even stating: “The best deterrent is evicting a family from its home.”
One source noted: “It was completely clear he meant demolitions in the Arab community. Ben-Gvir is seeking provocation and chaos; that’s what interests him.”
Israel opens underground prison for Hamas, Hezbollah detainees: Report
Senior Israeli occupation officers confirmed that Ben-Gvir insisted on prioritising demolitions of occupied homes, even when such structures are not high-priority cases.
The Israeli government justifies these demolitions by claiming the structures were built without permits, although obtaining such permits is nearly impossible for Palestinians under what Amnesty and other human rights groups have described as Israel’s two-tier apartheid system.
Ben-Gvir’s push to add occupancy as a criterion for demolition drew objections from senior Justice Ministry officials, who urged the Israeli forces to assert their independence. “Ben-Gvir is acting like a ‘super-commissioner’,” said one official.
Despite resistance, Israeli forces operations increasingly align with Ben-Gvir’s focus on demolishing Arab community homes, reported Haaretz.
State Prosecutor Amit Aisman and Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara are aware of Ben-Gvir’s interference but have yet to confront him directly. Meanwhile, Ben-Gvir continues to issue demolition orders against Palestinian homes.
This work by Middle East Monitor is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
Qatar warns of ongoing Israeli escalation in Al-Aqsa
https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20241227-qatar-warns-of-ongoing-israeli-escalation-in-al-aqsa
Qatar has strongly condemned the storming of Al-Aqsa Mosque by the Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir under the protection of occupation forces.
In a statement issued yesterday, the Qatari Foreign Ministry stated that repeated attempts to undermine the religious and historical status of Al-Aqsa Mosque are not only an attack on Palestinians but also on over two billion Muslims worldwide.
It also warned about the continuation of the aggressive policies adopted by the Israeli government in the occupied Palestinian territories, highlighting their impact on increasing violence in the region and undermining efforts for a two-state solution and achieving a comprehensive, just and sustainable peace.
Qatar reaffirmed its steadfast position on justice for the Palestinian cause and the legitimate rights of the Palestinian people, including their full right to practice their religious rituals without restrictions and to establish their independent state based on the 1967 borders, with East Jerusalem as its capital.
Earlier yesterday, extremist minister, Itamar Ben-Gvir, stormed Al-Aqsa Mosque with a group of settlers. They were heavily guarded by occupation police. This is thought to be part of his efforts to mark the Jewish holiday of Hanukkah.
READ: Israeli minister storms Al-Aqsa Mosque in East Jerusalem
This Work by Middle East Monitor is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
Israeli minister Ben-Gvir storms Ibrahimi mosque in Hebron to provoke an escalation in the West Bank
Original article by Aseel Saleh republished from peoples dispatch under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 (CC BY-SA) license.
Following ICC’s issuance of arrest warrants against top Israeli officials over Gaza’s genocide, Ben-Gvir bluntly threatened to escalate the situation in the West Bank, confirming Israel’s disregard of international law.
Israeli Minister of National Security Itamar Ben-Gvir stormed Ibrahimi Mosque in the city of Hebron (Al-Khalil) in the southern occupied West Bank on Friday, November 22, accompanied by thousands of Israeli settlers.
A Palestinian citizen from a local committee working to defend Hebron city from Israeli violations told Anadolu Ajansı that Ben-Gvir and the settlers escorting him performed Talmudic rituals for the Jewish holiday Chayei Sarah (Life of Sarah) inside the mosque. He added that the Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) imposed a curfew on the old city of Hebron, where the Ibrahimi Mosque is located, banning Palestinians from reaching the area during the settlers’ raid.
Meanwhile, the director of the Ibrahimi Mosque Mutaz Abu Sneineh informed media outlets that the IOF closed the mosque to Muslim worshipers and employees through Saturday evening. The Ibrahimi Mosque itself has also been the site of numerous settler attacks. In 1994, extremist settler terrorist Baruch Goldstein entered the mosque during a prayer and open fired, killing 29 Palestinian worshippers and injuring over 100.
While settler violence against Palestinians has a long history that goes back to the period of the British Mandate in Palestine, the rise of extremist leader Ben-Gvir since 2019 has been accompanied by a sharp uptick in attacks and provocative acts. Ben-Gvir has been labelled by Israeli and western media alike as a provocateur, pyromaniac, ultranationalist, and an extremist settler.
Ben-Gvir has been part of Netanyahu’s government, playing a key role in shaping politics and decision making, since 2022 as the Minister of National Security. Ben-Gvir’s illegal attacks and provocations would not be possible without his government’s policies and rhetoric which explicitly back settler violence.
Israel’s new Defense Minister, Yisrael Katz, announced on Friday the suspension of administrative detention for Israeli settlers who carry out attacks against Palestinians in the occupied West Bank. The Palestinian Authority slammed Katz’s decision as it would further encourage settlers to commit more crimes against Palestinians.
In a statement issued on Friday, the Palestinian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates said that Katz’s decision “would encourage supremacist colonists to commit acts of terrorism against Palestinians and their properties and further foster their impunity.” The Ministry also called for effective international action to restrain settler “militias” and protect the Palestinians from their violence.
Katz’s decision may be seen as part of the plan recently declared by Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich for the West Bank annexation early November. The plan was re-iterated by Ben Gvir, who called for implementing it in response to the ICC’s issuance of arrest warrants orders for top Israeli officials on Thursday, November 21.
According to analysts, Israeli ministers aim at fueling the situation in the West Bank to find a pretext to end the Oslo Accords which granted the Palestinian Authority self-governance over the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, and to undermine international efforts for a two-state solution.
Original article by Aseel Saleh republished from peoples dispatch under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 (CC BY-SA) license.
Israeli bombing raids kill scores across Gaza and Lebanon
https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/israeli-bombing-raids-kill-scores-across-gaza-and-lebanon
ISRAEL bombed the Jabalia refugee camp in northern Gaza without warning early today, [Sunday, November 10, 2024] killing at least 33 people including 13 children.
Its bombers killed a further 23 people in the Lebanese village of Aalmat, north of Beirut, a day after a bombing raid over the ancient port of Tyre left at least seven dead, including five siblings, three of whom were deaf and mute. Other Israeli bombing over Lebanon killed a further 31 people on Saturday, according to health officials.
The UN’s agency for Palestinian refugees UNRWA, which Israel has banned, said famine is already taking grip in northern Gaza, where Israel’s invading forces continue to deny access to humanitarian aid.
Israel was forced to deny comments from a commander on the ground, Brigadier Itzik Cohen, last week that no aid would be allowed to enter the north because “there are no residents [ie, non-combatants] left there,” as well as that his declaration “No-one is returning to the northern area. There is no return to the north, and there will not be” reflects a policy of ethnic cleansing in the north — as openly advocated by Israeli ministers including National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir — saying instead it represented a tactical position based on ongoing fighting.
…
https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/israeli-bombing-raids-kill-scores-across-gaza-and-lebanon